The Issue of Education - Vin Suprynowicz responds to a "Conservative Republican"

To be of any use, Libertarian political activity has to confront people
with truths, and for the most part (in the immortal words of Jack Nicholson, "A
Few Good Men," 1982) they "can't handle the truth."

We have no choice but to tell them compulsion-based
tax-funded schooling does more harm than good.

"You'd reduce school funding? We'll admit the schools
need some reforms, but you want to breed us a generation of illiterates!"

We must reply: "No, the current system is
breeding generations of functional illiterates, unprepared to challenge
transparent government propaganda on global warming, species protection,
government's 'need for enhanced revenues,' etc. ad infinitum. And, no we don't
want to 'reduce funding' or 'help you bring about reforms.' The tax-funded
government schools must be eliminated completely."

We have no choice but to tell them drug prohibition is an
unenforceable moral evil, giving birth to the complete police state.

"You'd reduce penalties for pot, treating
it as a medical rather than a legal problem? You want to rturn all our kids into
junkies!"

We must reply: "No, not
'reduce penalties for pot.' We must completelty re-legalize cocaine and the
opiates, with no government controls whatever. When alcohol was re-legalized in
1933 violence fell off abruptly, and hard liquor consumption per capita has
DROPPED, every decade since. By creating the perverse incentive to smuggle more
potent extracts, it's Prohibition that creates 'junkies.' "

But these positions do not "sell," politically. So anyone
trying to win public office -- or even raise funds to run for public office --
soon learns to pussy-foot around such issues, using euphemisms that allow the
listener to avoid confronting these unpalatable truths.

At which point, Libertarian political acitivism becomes
worse than useless, since it diverts energy and money from those who would force
the listeners to confront unpalatable truths and admit they've been duped by
generations of propaganda.